Living off rental income at the beach: a dream that draws mockery

Living off rental income at the beach: the dream that divides Spaniards

Every summer, someone declares they have no intention of going back to the grind. This time it is the owner of an apartment on the coast of Murcia, in south-eastern Spain, who says he is on holiday, does not miss his usual digital environment and is considering staying at the beach living off rental income. The reaction to such a statement is far from unanimous: while some wrap it in sarcasm, others demand to know exactly which income he is talking about.

The fantasy of the rentier is older than the 50-euro phone someone threw at him as proof that the plan does not add up. The fact is that the return on a holiday rental on Spain's Mediterranean coast rarely covers a lifestyle outside of work. Even the most optimistic calculations require considerable assets to generate enough passive income, and sceptics point out that with service charges, maintenance and taxes, the margin narrows.

The background to the comment is not only financial. Disconnecting from the most hostile digital environments has become a small aspirational luxury. Anyone who has spent months enduring provocations and personal attacks in every corner of the internet understands the desire not to go back. The question is whether that desire holds up when September arrives and the savings run out.

Most likely, the return to routine will win out, but the temptation not to go back will keep growing every summer: with holiday rentals on the rise and online communities increasingly fractious, the rentier paradise is gaining trinc even if the bank account says otherwise.